The Detroit Tigers had their chance to seize control of the American League Central, and instead they walked out of Comerica Park with a sweep hanging over them.
Sunday’s 7-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox finished off the Tigers in the biggest series of their season so far. Detroit is now 60-64 and sits 5½ games back of first-place Chicago.
The Tigers entered the series in a playoff spot and with a shot at first in the division. They leave it headed on the road, with the odds moving the wrong direction.
For a while, the afternoon had a little bit of everything Detroit could ask for. Drew Anderson gave the Tigers five competitive innings, the longest outing of his season, and rookie left fielder Brett Callahan turned his first big league at-bat into a moment nobody in the building will forget. But the bullpen couldn’t hold it, and Chicago kept finding answers.
Callahan set the tone right away. On the first pitch he saw in the majors, a hanging curveball from right-hander Sean Burke, he sent a two-RBI triple down the right-field line in the bottom of the second.
Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry scored on the play, and Callahan became the seventh player in franchise history to triple in his first major league game, according to Stathead. He was also the first Tiger to triple in his first plate appearance since Bill Irwin did it in a pinch-hit spot in an infamous 24-2 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics on May 18, 1912.
Detroit kept building from there. One pitch later, Max Clark chopped a ball over Munetaka Murakami to bring Callahan home and make it 3-0. Keith then added a solo homer in the third, his ninth of the season, and the Tigers were up 4-1.
But the offense quieted down fast. Detroit scored just once after the third inning, and when the game tightened, the White Sox took over.
Anderson’s line was solid: three runs over five innings, 74 pitches, season highs in both innings and pitches. He also flashed some real sharpness early.
He fielded a hard grounder from Sam Antonacci on the first pitch of the game and got the out himself, then worked a slick double play in the second after Chase Meidroth bounced one back toward him. Anderson also won a successful ABS challenge in that second inning, his fourth of the season, giving him the MLB lead in successful challenges.
Chicago chipped away at him in the third and fifth. Tristan Peters led off the third with a double and came around on a small-ball sequence, then Drew Romo blasted a two-run homer in the fifth. Romo entered the game hitting .132, but he still delivered the punch that cut into Detroit’s lead.
The sixth inning flipped the game. Anderson had handed the ball to the bullpen with a 4-3 lead, but Tyler Holton immediately gave up the tying hit to Colson Montgomery, who singled home the run.
Holton then allowed the go-ahead blow in the seventh, when Munetaka Murakami launched an opposite-field, two-run homer. It was Murakami’s second homer of the series and his 28th of the year, and that total would not stand alone for long.
Detroit tried to answer. In the bottom of the seventh, Gleyber Torres opened with a double and Dillon Dingler followed with a one-out double to bring him in.
It was Dingler’s first hit since Aug. 8, ending a stretch in which he went hitless in his previous 28 plate appearances. But with the tying run on second, Hao-Yu Lee grounded out to first, and the inning was over.
Jacob Waguespack threw a scoreless eighth to keep the Tigers close, but Miguel Vargas made sure the White Sox had another cushion with a solo homer in the ninth, tying Murakami for the team lead with 28.
Detroit now heads to Pittsburgh for a three-game series that begins Monday, Aug. 17.
First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Tigers lefty Framber Valdez (7-8, 4.26 ERA) is set to face a Pirates pitcher yet to be announced.
In Other News...
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Josue Briceo is starting to make that patience look a little more justified. After a recent promotion to Triple-A, the young hitter has made an immediate impression, adding another reminder that the Tigers may have real homegrown impact talent on the way. Harris has resisted the temptation to cash in those kinds of players for short-term help, and Briceos emergence only sharpens the stakes around that philosophy. If Detroit keeps holding onto its best prospects, the payoff may come from within rather than from a splashy trade. [Read more 🡒]
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Kerry Carpenter Update Leaves Tigers Facing A Brutal Stretch Run
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A.J. Hinch said Carpenter has been sent to see a foot specialist, adding another layer of uncertainty to a situation that already carried plenty of concern. The Tigers do have options to cover his role, but the bigger question is how long theyll need to do it, and whether Detroit can navigate a difficult finish without one of its more dangerous bats back in the fold. [Read more 🡒]